• Murtaza Baxamusa, directs planning and development for the Family Housing Corporation, of the San Diego Building Trades in Mission Valley: If the first half was characterized by an exuberant double-digit rate of growth in home prices and shrinking inventories, then the rest of the year will play a moderating role. Supply will increase from multifamily residential construction, especially downtown, and resales from sellers who were waiting for the distressed inventory to clear out. On the demand side, the buying power of mortgage payments will decrease as interest rates rise. As we transition into 2014, watch for a structural adjustment as the “American Dream” gets redefined by demographic and employment changes, impacting the rate of homeownership and housing preferences.

• Michael Lea, real estate professor at the Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate at San Diego State University: The first half was good for the San Diego housing market. Prices rose smartly and the proportion of sales that are distressed declined significantly. Inventories remain low and investor activity high presaging continued price growth through the end of the year. What could slow this trend down? Rising interest rates would certainly cool the market. Fixed mortgage rates have risen significantly in the past few months and may continue to rise if the Fed backs off quantitative easing. Affordability continues to be a problem, particularly for first-time buyers being hit with rising rates and prices.

• Linda Lee, president of the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors: This year, the median price for single-family homes in the county increased by 20 percent and rose 31 percent for condos/townhomes, when compared to the first half of 2012, show numbers from our association. Nearly 12,500 single-family homes and 4,680 attached homes were sold in the first half. While mortgage interest rates have risen in recent months, they remain near historical lows, and more listings are surfacing every day. With more than 6,000 homes listed, it's safe to say the local housing market remains on a healthy trajectory. We anticipate the housing market recovery will be just as strong as it was during the first half.

• Marco Sessa, chairman of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County and senior vice president of Sudberry Properties : There are a number of economic factors, such as increasing interest rates and a rising inventory of homes for sale, that will likely slow the rate of home price appreciation that San Diego has experienced over the last year. Nonetheless, continued job growth stimulating the creation of new households along with pent-up demand from years of historically low housing production, should keep both home values and rental rates on the upswing for the second half of the year.

• Robert Vallera, senior vice president of Voit Real Estate Services in San Diego: Primarily, I expect a continuation of this seller’s market with low levels of inventory. The imbalance will remain most acute in the lower to middle sectors of the market. The conventional wisdom is that mortgage rates will remain stable or slowly rise. However, the unsustainable government debt levels in southern Europe are approaching a tipping point. A credit crisis there could either put upward pressure on U.S. interest rates, or perversely, money could flow toward the perceived safety of U.S. government debt instruments. In the latter case, further distress in Europe could lead to an unexpected easing of interest rates in the nation.

•Kurt Wannebo, real estate broker and CEO of San Diego Real Estate and Investments: With inventory on the rise by over 30 percent in the last 30 days, and interest rates having gone up as well, I anticipate that we will see a continued leveling off of sharp price increases. We should still see strong sales numbers, but with a more gradual increase of prices over the rest of the year due to more buyers being able to enter the market with the easing of some lending guidelines. Days on market will increase for sellers, but the market will still sustain growth in prices as we build toward a more fundamental real estate market.